Toxicum
by Lyndotia
Summary: Two girls leave home and hit the road only to find themselves in a world they thought was a TV show with a lot of people they thought were good guys hell-bent on seeing them in hell.
1. Who You Callin' A Witch?

Disclaimer: We do not own Charmed or any of the copyrighted stuff.

A/N: Reneey: So Akantha woke up today while watching Charmed with Lyn around 9 am.

Lyn: Therefore, a Charmed fic! Let us know what you think, folks!

Reneey: Hehe… we're like killing ourselves here with fanfics XD

Lyn: Hey, what's Russian Roulette without as many bullets as possible, eh? :P

Reneey: … Don't say that… I'm in a Lady GaGa mood and you're gonna get Bad Romance out of my head and Poker Face stuck in it instead.

Lyn: Then be quiet and write the fic!

---

**Chapter One – Who You Callin' a Witch?**

Reneey whined as the sun shone through the car window and into the back seat. Her brown eyes opened slightly and she turned over, forgetting that she was in a car.

"Whoa!" She landed on the bottom with a thud. "Oww…"

"Sorry," Lyn mumbled from the front seat, sitting up with a yawn. "Once I find a job here, you'll only have to worry about falling out of bed."

"I'm 18, I can find a job too," Reneey grumbled as she got up.

"As of four days ago," Lyn said, rolling her eyes. "And I have a bachelor's degree, remember? I'm pretty sure I can make more money than you can."

"Well, I could get a job as a waitress."

"We'll see," was all Lyn said.

Reneey yawned and stretched her back until it cracked. "So, we have any food left?"

"Bunch of homegrown apples and a few pudding cups," Lyn said with a chuckle, throwing Reneey one of each. "Or if you're really desperate, we could spring for Chinese or something."

Reneey caught them. "How much do you have left?"

"Enough for a down payment on an apartment if I can find a job," Lyn said simply.

"Well, once you do that we can get a decent meal," Reneey grumbled s she took a bite of the apple.

"We'll figure something out," Lyn said with a shrug.

"So let's go look for a job?"

"Eat your food and give the places time to open up first."

"It's 9 am – most places are open already."

"Then be quiet and eat!" Lyn said, rolling her eyes.

"Well, you should eat too!"

"I will! Now be quiet before I have to turn the radio on and drown you out!"

Reneey pouted. "You wouldn't do that; you love me too much."

Lyn sighed. "Reneey, shut up and eat."

Lyn Elumo, 20 years old and a graduate of the University of Tennessee, had picked up Reneey Umbra, an 18-year-old junior in a Pennsylvania high school, the day of her birthday and the two had headed west. They had been friends for years and now they were making real their plans to head to California to escape from their families and Lyn's ex-boyfriend.

Meanwhile, in the small town of Pierce, Tennessee where Lyn had lived for the first 18 years of her life, her mother, Crystal, had reached the edge of her limits. Lyn was 20 years old now; they couldn't call the police and report her as a runaway. So she did the only thing a 38-year-old practicing wiccan could do: cast a spell of safe return.

Reneey frowned. "Hey, Lynni… I feel weird… like I'm being pulled."

Lyn shook her head. "I just got one heck of a migraine…"

"Well, my stomach is doing flips and I feel like someone is pulling something out of my chest… could I be sick…?"

Lyn grimaced and nodded slowly. "Maybe we should lie down…"

Reneey snorted. "I'm already lying down…"

Heaving a sigh, Lyn closed her eyes tightly, trying to block out the light. "… Hey, Rea? You hear something?"

"I hear whispers… and a ringing… Any chance there's people here just wearing invisible clothes…?"

"Maybe we're in Harry Potter," Lyn joked weakly.

Reneey let out a dry laugh. "My head is starting to kill me too… Did we bring any Tylenol with us or something?"

"Yeah," Lyn said, forcing herself to sit up so she could search for the pain medication in her backpack. Things span too much for her to see properly for a minute, and then she blinked twice before saying slowly, "Uh… Rea…? Can you… sit up…?"

"My limbs feel like blocks… I can't even wiggle my finger."

"… I think I'm hallucinating…"

"… I must be too…"

"No," Lyn said, staring around herself at the green landscape of a city park. "I mean I _really_ think I'm hallucinating."

Reneey finally found her limbs and sat up, then froze as she felt… grass? "Um… Are you seeing what I'm seeing…? And feeling too…?"

"Dunno… You see a park…?"

"… Yeah… Do you feel wet grass…?"

"Yeah…"

Then, out of the blue, this _thing_ materialized in the middle of the park. It looked like a man but with eyes that glowed yellow as no human's ever had. Its teeth were pointed and it growled low, those eyes fixed on Lyn.

"Okay, now I _know_ I'm hallucinating," Lyn amended.

"… I think we're in Supernatural and not Harry Potter," Reneey contradicted.

"So then when are a couple of hot hunters gonna show up and save the day?"

"No one's coming to save you, witch," the yellow-eyed whatever growled. And then Lyn's eyes widened even further as a ball of energy sprang into life in his hand.

Reneey's breath shortened as she saw the blast headed for her friend.

"Lyn!" she shrieked and suddenly a zig zag of electricity sprang forth from the palms of her hands, mingled with then exploded the energy ball, and shocked the demon.

Lyn stared at her friend in disbelief as the demon roared its anger. It didn't seem to be more than angered though, not that Lyn was really paying attention.

"Reneey, what the freaking heck was that?!"

"… Uhh… Something yellowy and electric…?"

"Okay," Lyn said with a nervous laugh. "Of course. This all makes perfect sense. I've totally lost my mind!"

"No, you haven't – just get down!" another voice ordered. Lyn whirled to check where this new voice had come from and got a brief glimpse of a tall, dark-haired man with striking blue eyes before he tackled her to the ground just as another energy ball went flying over their heads.

"What the freaking heck is going on here?!" Lyn demanded as she tried to shove him off her.

"I'll tell you later – stay down!"

"Hey! Get the fuck off of her!" Reneey snapped. "Only I'm allowed to tackle hug her!" She twitched. "And who the fuck are you?!"

The man growled and his arm shot out – and then suddenly both the demon and Reneey went flying backward toward the trees. Reneey hit her head on a rock as she fell down from hitting the tree and was knocked out, bleeding and bruised.

"Reneey!" Lyn yelled and then she immediately stopped trying to push the guy off of her – and instead hit him in the face, hard.

"Ow! Okay, look, girl – I'm trying to save your life!"

"By attacking my best friend?!"

"Look, those are demons and – I said stay down!"

Another energy ball actually frayed a few hairs on top of Lyn's head as the man pushed her back down again. The fourth followed quickly but then bounced back as if it had hit an invisible barrier a few inches from his outstretched palm and struck the demon in the shoulder. It roared and disappeared as quickly as it had come.

The man sighed. "Okay – one down, one to go." He got up. "Stay down until I tell you to move," he old Lyn as he made his way to where the unconscious Reneey lay.

"Wait – what the heck are you doing?!" Lyn demanded, getting up despite his instructions and running after him.

"Protecting you," he said as with a wave of his hand, Reneey was lifted off the ground. In his other hand, he raised a potion, ready to throw it at her.

"From Reneey?! Are you insane?!" Lyn demanded, stepping between them so she was directly in his path. "She didn't do anything!"

"It's not what she's done, it's what she will do! Now get out of the way!"

"Or what, you'll go all Jedi on me, too?"

The man rolled his eyes. "Move or I'll make you move! You don't know what she is!"

"So I should believe some random guy who tackled me in a park over my best friend?" Lyn demanded. "Who the heck _are_ you?!"

"My name is Chris Halliwell and I was sent to protect you, Lyn."

Lyn reflexively took a step back at that. "How do you know my name?"

"I'm a witch like you, only I'm also half whitelighter. Protector of witches. I was sent by the elders to protect _you_."

"… Witch," Lyn repeated slowly. "And whitelighter. Right. I've totally gone insane."

"No, you haven't. Now, listen to me. Your friend is a mistake of nature… She's half witch and half demon. She holds unspeakable power that has to be destroyed before it turns to evil."

"Even if I believe all this freaking crap, she hasn't even done anything!" Lyn objected.

"I told you, it's what she will do!" Chris snapped.

"Then when she does, I'll move!" Lyn snapped right back.

Reneey groaned as her eyes slowly opened, only they were a different color now – green, neon green. "… Lyn… I don't feel so good… My head hurts… and I feel hot… and cold…"

Chris's eyes widened. "She's coming into her powers – I have to end this now!"

Lyn growled. "Don't make me break your arms so you can't go all telekinetic or whatever the heck that was."

"Look, I'm trying to protect you and the world!"

"And I'm trying to protect my friend who you apparently want to crucify for something she hasn't even done yet!"

"Didn't you see what she did to that demon?"

Lyn glared. "As opposed to what _you_ did to it?"

"I did it to protect you!"

"So did she!"

"How do you know that?"

"Gee, maybe because it was throwing one of those glowy blue things which apparently _explode_ at me at the time? Great job of protecting me then, too, by the way."

Chris growled. "Just get out of the way!" He lifted her in the air and was just about to throw her to the side so he would have a clear shot at Reneey when suddenly something in Lyn's mind snapped. The next second, a torrent of flames appeared from nowhere, circling Reneey and Lyn and creeping threateningly closer to Chris. "Leave her alone!"

Chris's eyes widened. "How is this possible? You're not supposed to develop your powers until later on!"

Lyn stared. "I'm doing that?"

"The fire, around you and her… It's your power."

In typical Lyn fashion, when the shock started to wear off she recovered her sense of sarcasm first. "Well, that would explain why it wants to kill you."

Chris stepped back a little as the flames grew closer to him. _If I throw it now, the flames will destroy it… I can't get close to her without getting burned alive!_

"Alright," he said, putting the potion back in his pocket.

"If you're expecting me to know how to turn this off, you're kinda mistaken."

Chris sighed. "This is gonna take a while…"


	2. Backstory of Doom! Literally

Disclaimer: We do not own Charmed or any of the copyrighted stuff.

A/N: -

---

**Chapter Two -- Backstory of Doom! Literally**

"Okay," Lyn said slowly, "so you're saying I'm a _witch_."

"You make it sound like a bad thing but it's not," Chris said. "Like I said earlier, I'm half witch."

"All the more reason to not want to be it," Lyn muttered darkly.

Chris glared. "Look, you trying to keep her alive might cost the future of the entire world. Are you ready to live with that?"

"How do you figure?"

Chris sighed. "Can you just try to calm down so I can explain? I'd prefer not to have to worry about being burned alive while I'm talking. I swear I won't try anything, okay?"

Lyn made a face. "I should hope not because I have no idea how this works and burning hair smells worse than burning rubber."

"You'll get used to that," Chris muttered but when Lyn blinked and asked him what he meant, he shook his head and didn't answer.

"So what were you going to tell me?" she asked with a raised eyebrow when the flames finally died out.

Chris looked over Lyn's shoulder at Reneey. "You should listen, too. I'm pretty sure there will be more sent after you when they find out I failed."

"Uh, okay," Reneey said slowly but she didn't get up or move closer.

Chris sighed deeply. "Alright… I guess this starts about eighteen years ago. I was just a kid back then but my dad was an elder – they're the oldest, most experienced whitelighters."

"Was?" Reneey interrupted. "That mean he's dead?"

Chris glared. "No. He stopped being a whitelighter and became human again so he wouldn't stay young forever while my mother aged."

Lyn blinked. "Huh. That's kinda romantic in a weird, somewhat creepy supernatural kind of way. Anyway, back to Reneey?"

"Right," Chris said, nodding. "Well, fifteen years ago, there was an upper-level demon named Abraxas who was told by the Seer that he could obtain ultimate power only through an heir spawned with a witch. And so… Well, let's just say it wasn't the girl's choice to have a half-demonic child. The Seer pointed the witch out to him so the child would be the most powerful. Too powerful; it drained the mother's energy until the witch died."

By this point, Chris was not so much talking as growling through his teeth. "Abraxas ripped her apart to get the – _baby_ out of her before it died too. The elders couldn't ignore that it had already killed one witch. The only way to keep it from causing harm was to banish it to a parallel reality. In order to keep the balance between good and evil, a child of good also had to be banished; that was you," he finished, his eyes locking on Lyn's.

Lyn blinked. "What?"

"Because she was such a powerful force of evil, a powerful force of good also had to be lost," Chris explained. "You had already manifested prophetic dreams, which is an incredible power in any witch. One of my aunts has premonitions and it saved their lives many times when they were younger.

"But the elders knew you would have your father's pyrokinesis eventually and that's a power that demons covet in witches – they're kidnapped and trained as guards for the most powerful demons. With your dreams on top of that, they would have attacked your family and you until they got what they wanted. So in a way, they were also protecting you."

Lyn nodded slowly. "Yeah. I see. Guess I shouldn't be surprised that people pulling crap over on me without caring what I want has been happening for longer than I can remember."

Turning around, she carefully but quickly helped Reneey to her feet. "Come on – we're out of here."

"You can't go off by yourself, you'll be attacked again!" Chris objected.

"Lyn," Reneey said thickly, her head swimming. "I think mebbeIhafta…"

And she passed out, falling into her friend's arms.

---

Reneey groaned as she woke up, her fingers feeling something.

_Leather?_

Moaning, she sat up slowly. _Where am I?_ Her eyes opened a little. _And my head hurts like hell._

"… Lyn?" she called out.

"Well, it seems she's awake," Paige said she put down coffee on the table in the kitchen.

"I still want to know why we're holding a Halfling here!" Phoebe said. "Shouldn't we be taking her to the elders?!"

"Now, she's not Cole, Phoebe," Piper said with a frown. "And Chris said she doesn't seem like an immediate threat. I trust my son."

"Hey, sleepyhead," Lyn said with a grin from where she sat on the floor beside the couch. She mostly insisted on taking this protective position because Chris seemed to be taking his whitelighter duties very literally and was sitting in the chair nearby to make sure Reneey didn't try to kill Lyn or something like that. Needless to say, she didn't quite trust him yet.

"My head hurts like hell… What's around my head, anyway?" Reneey felt the bandage that Lyn had wrapped around to stop the bleeding.

"Just be glad you weren't awake for that orbing thing," Lyn said, shaking her head. "That was creepy, I tell you."

"Where am I?" Reneey questioned as she looked around.

"His house, apparently," Lyn said darkly, jerking her head at Chris.

"My parents' house, actually," Chris corrected. "Halliwell Manor."

Lyn snickered. "Big shot still lives with mommy and daddy."

Reneey sighed and she slowly got up. "Can I have something to drink?"

"You'll come with us to the kitchen," Chris said firmly. "I'm not leaving you alone."

Lyn glared at him. "She has a head wound. You do your freaky glowy thing and go get a glass of water if you're so paranoid."

"Only if I'm with her." Chris glared back.

"I'll stay here with her," Lyn snapped. "Maybe I don't know how the fire thing works yet but I _am_ trained in Isshinryu karate. I think I can keep a girl with a head wound on a couch."

"She's not a human! She's a Halfling that has the power to destroy the world!"

"Yeah? Well, I think I have the power to crush your trachea, so shut up and stop pushing me or I'm gonna try it."

Chris growled. "Fine – but you're coming with me then. That way she won't have anyone to kill."

Lyn rolled her eyes but stood up and patted Reneey's arm to tell her she'd be right back before turning her glare back on Chris. "The only one who's in danger of death is you, smart aleck."

Reneey nodded slowly and closed her eyes as she waited for them to come back. Chris grabbed hold of Lyn's arm and orbed to the kitchen.

"Well, nice of you two to come down, but where's Reneey?" Piper asked.

"Reneey with a head wound isn't so stable on her feet," Lyn said simply before shooting an annoyed look at Chris. "Why the heck we couldn't use the stairs like normal people I'll never know, but whatever."

"… So you two left her… alone… vulnerable to any demons attacks." Piper glared at Chris.

"Apparently he's more under the impression that she's going to kill me than worried about anyone hurting _her_ despite all evidence to the contrary," Lyn remarked, glaring at Chris, too.

"I'll go check up on her," Paige said as she got up.

"My job is to protect Lyn, not the demon spawn," Chris growled as he got a glass of water.

"Until she does something wrong, she's an innocent too, Chris," Piper said with a frown.

"Alright, do the elders know about her being here, at least?" Phoebe asked. "If not, we should tell them…"

"Yes, God forbid anybody give her ten seconds without somebody wanting to kill or banish her," Lyn snapped. "Why the heck are we even here if none of you people want us?"

"That, we have no idea," Piper said as she handed a cup of coffee to Lyn. "Wyatt, Chris's brother, is trying to find something out."

"Thanks," Lyn muttered as she took the coffee and attempted a smile. "Lack of caffeine does make me more irritable than usual. Sorry."

"It's alright – does the same to me," Piper said with a smirk.

"Yeah, we've had to remodel the house how many times?" Phoebe grumbled.

Lyn shrugged. "I manage to knock an extraordinary number of holes in walls without magical abilities. But on the bright side, you learn basic carpentry pretty well that way."

Piper chuckled. "Yeah, we'll get along just fine."

Lyn sighed. "Doubtful. Something tells me if your elders got rid of us once, they'll probably do it again."

"Well, we'll see about that," Piper said sternly. "So far, you two are just innocent girls who got attacked." She ended the last two words with a glare to Chris.

"Whatever," Chris growled, grabbing hold of Lyn's arm again. "I got the water, let's go."

---

Reneey groaned when she felt someone touch her shoulder. "Lyn?" she asked as she opened her eyes slowly.

"No, but I'm a friend," Paige said with a faint smile. "Name's Paige. You're burning up, you know?"

"I'll be fine… I just want water," Reneey said with a frown.

"Chris and Lyn are in the kitchen getting some," Paige assured her.

"I'm freezing – can I have a blanket?" Reneey asked.

Paige frowned as she got a blanket and felt of Reneey's forehead again. "Maybe if Chris and I try together we can heal you… At least your non-demon half…" _Assuming Chris would even agree to try…_

"I want Lynni here… Where is she?"

"I'm sure they'll be up in a minute," Paige said.

Just as she spoke, Chris and Lyn orbed into the room and Reneey sighed. "Hey, Lyn… Do you mind if I wear your jacket? I'm getting really cold…"

Lyn frowned as she took the jacket off and gave it to her friend. "Do you have a fever?"

"I think so… Paige says I'm burning up," Reneey grumbled.

Lyn grimaced. "I swear, you get sick more often than anyone I've ever met in my entire life."

Reneey giggled. "Even you?"

"Hey, I'm just allergic to life," Lyn argued. "Not the same thing."

Chris rolled his eyes. "Did I go get this water for nothing? Quit arguing and drink it."

Reneey winced and took the water with shaking hands then drank it in one gulp. "Thanks," she said meekly.

Paige sent a glare to Chris who rolled his eyes again. Lyn kicked him in the shin then smiled innocently. "Oh, sorry – didn't see you there."

"Ouch!" Chris snapped as he rubbed his shin. "That's the thanks I get for protecting you?!"

"No, I'm not killing you for that," Lyn shot back. "The kick was for scaring her while she's sick."

Chris scoffed. "Afraid? Demons don't feel fear – they don't feel anything."

Lyn growled and kicked him again. "She's only half demon, jerkoff!"

"She's still part demon!" Chris growled. "Now stop kicking me or I'll bind your legs together!"

"Then I'll punch you instead," Lyn snapped back.

Paige sighed. "Yeah… This is getting us nowhere."

"Right, well my area of expertise is English lit, so unless that somehow comes in handy, I have no idea what the heck you expect me to do," Lyn said.

Just then there was a ray of blue and white and Wyatt appeared. "The elders want the girls, both of them – now."


	3. Burning Down the House

Disclaimer: We do not own Charmed or any of the copyrighted stuff.

A/N: Lyn: So we write more!

Reneey: Yay! … So review?

---

**Chapter Three – Burning Down the House**

"Wait, what now?" Lyn cried as Wyatt started toward Reneey. A flash of movement and a roundhouse kick to the chest later, Wyatt went flying back into a pile of boxes in the corner of the attic and Lyn snarled, "Keep your freaking hands to yourself!"

"What the hell?!" Wyatt demanded, picking himself up. "Why didn't my shield block her out?!"

"Because she's not the evil one, idiot," Chris said, rolling his eyes.

"Reneey isn't either!" Lyn snapped.

"You've got one hell of a roundhouse, I'll give you that," Wyatt said, sounding almost appreciative as he stared at Lyn. He smirked and added, "You're pretty cute, too. I am sorry, this isn't really your fault, but the elders have decided…"

Chris shoved his brother in the shoulder and snapped, "Stop hitting on my charge!"

Wyatt grinned. "What, you call dibs already?"

Lyn made a face. "Figures all men are pigs in this dimension, too."

Reneey growled. "Is it so hard to get some fucking sleep?!"

"In this house, yes, it is," Piper said as she and Phoebe came upstairs too. "Now, Wyatt, what did the elders say?"

"As I was saying before the girl with the killer roundhouse interrupted, they want both of them yesterday," Wyatt answered. "They already knew the non-evil one was supposed to be Chris's charge so they know they're here and they will come if we don't bring them up there."

Piper sighed. "Knowing them, they'll want to banish them again, or even kill Reneey if they can manage it…"

"I don't think they can kill it now that it has its powers," Chris said, jerking his head at Reneey. "Otherwise they would have done that when it was a baby instead of having to banish them both."

"She's not an it!" Lyn growled.

Reneey frowned. "Lyn, it's fine… I'm used to it."

"And I'm used to being hounded like I'm the source of all the world's ills but that doesn't mean I put up with it so be quiet and let me stand up for you."

Wyatt rolled his eyes. "Whatever! The elders are waiting!"

Chris pinched the bridge of his nose like he had a headache. "Not that she's not a pain and a half, but they expect me to turn over my charge to be banished God only knows where?"

Reneey sighed and closed her eyes. "My head hurts… a lot… please, just everybody stop talking."

Suddenly the weather outside went cold, the clouds darkened, and the wind started to pick up.

"What the hell?!" Wyatt demanded, pointing to the window. "Since when does it snow in June?"

Lyn looked at Reneey, frowning. "Earlier, in the park, when the demon tried to kill me… she struck him with lightning from her hands."

Reneey curled up in the fetal position on the couch. "Just shut up everybody…"

Hail started to come down hard.

"Um, guys… I think we have a problem here," Phoebe said.

"Yeah, no kidding," Piper said as she picked up the Book of Shadows.

"We could use a calming potion to calm her down," Paige suggested.

Lyn rolled her eyes. "You guys may know this magic stuff, but you suck at people skills," Lyn said as she sat down on the couch beside Reneey and hugged her. "Just be quiet like she asked."

"But the elders –"

"Wyatt, is it? Shut up before I kick you again."

Reneey groaned as she cuddled closer to Lyn for warmth and to drown out the noises. "Lynni… Use your awesome ninja skills to make them all shut up."

Lyn chuckled and stroked her hair. "Shh. Egasinu."

Reneey sighed. "I will once it's quiet."

Chris frowned. He didn't like her being so close to the evil one so he stepped in. "What did you say to her?"

"Egasinu," Lyn repeated in a low voice barely above a whisper so it wouldn't bother Reneey. "'Go to sleep.' It's Tsalagi." She shook her head and translated again, "Cherokee."

Reneey let out a yawn and closed her eyes, falling asleep once again.

Chris didn't really care, for he was the only one who didn't talk in a whisper voice as the sisters discussed what to do next among themselves while Wyatt just stood there.

"We should go to the elders, as in now!"

"I should've kicked you in the mouth," Lyn muttered darkly.

"Well, Wyatt, go tell them that Reneey has a head injury and is sick with a fever – see if they will wait a little until she heals so we can figure something out," Piper said.

"Alright, I'll tell them, but I don't know what hope you have. You know how they are," Wyatt said. "See ya." And then he orbed out.

Lyn chuckled softly. "Well, dang… Never thought I'd find anyplace I was less welcome than home, but I guess this beats that. At least nobody there wanted to banish and/or kill me."

Reneey whined in her sleep and gripped tighter onto Lyn. Chris saw this and took it as an attack, but before he could do anything, a fist landed on his nose.

"Next time, I'll break it," Lyn snapped. "Hands and magical powers to yourself. She's not hurting me."

Chris growled as he checked to see if he was bleeding. "She's digging her nails into you!"

"Yeah – so do my cats; wanna kill them, too?"

"Well, are your cats demons?"

Lyn grinned. "They are pretty evil."

Chris rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He sat down in a chair a few feet away but kept his glare on Reneey, ready if she tried anything.

Piper sighed as she rubbed her temples. "Alright, well, while we wait, who's hungry?"

"Oh yeah," Lyn remembered. "That might be a good idea. We've kinda been living off of apples and pudding cups for four days."

Phoebe blinked. "Why? Don't you two have a home with parents?"

Lyn chuckled darkly. "Right. My parents didn't want me until I went to college and started getting grant money. No, I didn't decide to stick around so they could take it."

"Alright, what about Reneey?" Phoebe asked.

Lyn shrugged. "She just turned 18 four days ago. I picked her up and we started driving until we didn't know how to get home if we tried. Figured I'd get a job teaching English somewhere once we decided to stop."

"Alright," Piper said as she got up. "The girls and I will start cooking. You guys can stay up here… And Chris, please don't make her break your bones… that's the last thing we need." And with that, she and her sisters walked out.

Lyn stared at Chris and shook her head. "How did that happen?"

He blinked. "What?"

"You end up so annoying when your mom's so awesome."

Chris growled. "Hey! I'm just trying to protect you!"

Lyn sighed. "For the last time, I don't need protecting. If she was some kind of cold-blooded killer, why the heck would she have saved my life?"

Chris blinked. "Saved your life? When did she?"

Lyn rolled her eyes. "Were you not paying attention when I told you she electrocuted the demon with lightning? She also blew up an energy ball he was throwing at me at the time."

Chris rolled his eyes. "Freak accident, I'm sure of it."

Reneey grumbled in her sleep as she tried to get her head close as possible to Lyn's side so the sound could be drowned out.

Lyn glared. "Can you at least pretend to whisper? Or do you want another freak hailstorm?"

"She's a demon, she can handle noise!"

"Well, you're a jerk, so you can handle me breaking your face!"

Wyatt came back just in time before a fight could break out. Again. "They want proof that she really is sick. They'll be here in 3… 2…"

Suddenly a dozen or so spots of bright light came into the attic.

"… 1."

Lyn covered Reneey's ears with her hands in case they didn't bother to keep their voices down and tried not to look openly hostile.

A woman with sandy blond hair looked down at Lyn and Reneey on the couch with bright blue eyes. "Well, unless they're excellent actors, she does seem sick."

The other person, a shorter man with red hair and beard, snorted. "She could be faking it…"

The woman sighed. "Be realistic, James. You're being paranoid."

She smiled at Lyn. "Hello, dear. I am Selena and this is James. We are two of the elders."

Lyn nodded. "So you're the geniuses who want to kill my best friend or send us off somewhere you won't have to think about it. Real nice to meet you." She smiled sarcastically and Wyatt and Chris exchanged looks.

Selena sighed. "We do apologize about that, but that girl is half demon. She holds unspeakable power; either of you, if turned to evil, could unleash a cataclysm we could never control, but she has an innate attraction to evil. She cannot be trusted."

"So you're a bunch of cowards," Lyn translated, glaring. "You don't even know her but you're afraid of her because she has the _potential_ to be dangerous. So does a freaking Doberman! So should we go kill all of those?"

James rolled his eyes. "No. I'm sorry we had to banish _you_, though… You would have been a great force for our side, but had to preserve balance because it was neutral magic. There is still the possibility we could find a way to kill the halfbreed and save the girl. She never did anything wrong…"

Lyn snarled and a bookcase half a foot from James burst into flames. "Threaten her life again and I will."

"Whoa!" James took a couple of steps away. "You don't understand, girl – she could destroy the universe!"

"Lyn, cool it," Chris hissed through his teeth, eyes on the fire. "You're going to burn the house down."

Lyn continued to glare at James. "Trust me, if I knew how to control it, it wouldn't be the house that would be on fire."

Selena shook her head, muttering "Man," under her breath. "Alright, James. She doesn't seem threatening right now with a fever and a head injury. We'll return to the others and tell what we know. But we will be back later."

"No hurry," Lyn muttered under her breath as they disappeared in a shower of orbs.

There was a beat of silence and then Chris interjected, "So can you stop the attempt to burn down the manor now?"


	4. Breakfast at Halliwell's

Disclaimer: We do not own Charmed or any of the copyrighted stuff.

A/N: Lyn: So we write more!

Reneey: Yay! … So review?

---

**Chapter Four – Breakfast at Halliwell's**

Wyatt grinned at Lyn from across the table. "So, baby… What's your sign?"

"Sagittarius," Lyn responded, stabbing a piece of sausage and not bothering to look at him. "You know, the Archer. Like Artemis. Who swore off men."

Wyatt widened his eyes as far as they would go. "So you play for the other team?"

Lyn launched her fork at his head but he stopped it in midair, laughing. "Kidding, kidding! I'll leave you alone, I swear."

"How the hell has she not beaten the crap out of you yet?" Chris demanded, looking annoyed. "I save her life and you hit on her for an hour straight but _I'm_ the one with the most bruises?"

"Pervs with no life hit on me all the time," Lyn said, picking up the sausage with her fingers and taking a bite since she no longer had a fork. "People trying to kill my best friend I take more personally."

"For the last time, _she's a demon halfbreed_!"

"And she's also an eighteen-year-old girl!"

"Enough with the fighting, already!" Wyatt interrupted. "Jeez, Chris, I know you don't have a lot of experience with girls but yelling at them is no way to go."

A steely ring came into Lyn's voice as she switched her glare back to Wyatt. "You know, I'm a third degree black belt with a 186 IQ. I _can_ kill you in your sleep and fix it up so your brother takes the fall and then I'll be rid of the both of you."

"And then nobody will be protecting you from the Elders," Chris said matter-of-factly. "If they banished you once, they can do it again. Whether you want to believe it or not, we _are_ on your side."

"Right, because people are usually on my side," Lyn muttered, taking another bite of sausage.

Wyatt rested his chin on his hands and looked at her. "Alright, out with it. You're snapping people's heads off every time anybody turns around – what's the story?"

"And why in the name of Sequoyah should I tell you?"

Wyatt blinked. "Okay, I'll bite. Who the hell is Sequoyah?"

Lyn sighed irritably. "Sequoyah developed the Cherokee syllabary. The symbols with which to write the Tsalagi language. I grew up just outside Red Clay, the last seat of the government before the Trail of Tears. Both my grandfathers are half Cherokee."

"See, now was that so bad?" Wyatt asked with a grin. "You know, talking about yourself without threatening anyone's life for asking?"

"Alright, look," Lyn said, setting her jaw but at least managing not to glare at him. "You seem incapable of taking a hint so let me spell this out for you: I do not want to talk about my life. Heck, I don't _think_ about it if I can help it. So knock it off or I'll knock off your head. Entienda?"

Chris sighed. "We left her alone… near the Book of Shadows… She should be watched!" he declared, his mind apparently shifting back to suspicion mode by default every five or so minutes. "She could steal it and use it to end the world! Or worse, expose the magical world!"

Lyn stared. "Why the heck is that worse than ending the world?"

Wyatt, on the other hand, rolled his eyes. "Nothing evil can touch the Book. You know that, Chris."

"She could still use something to fool Mom or someone into being her slave so they could steal it for her!"

"Oh, for pity's sake – if she could do that, I would've paid her money to do it to you to make you _shut up_!" Lyn snapped.

Chris growled but before he could snap back, a sudden blast of energy flew past them, skirting within inches of his face. A blue light appeared and suddenly balls of energy were flying everywhere.

"The hell?!" Wyatt yelled as he deflected some of them.

Chris instantly moved in front of Lyn to protect her only to receive a smack upside the head for his trouble. He growled again and hissed over his shoulder at her, "What the hell?!"

Lyn growled, "I don't need your – hey, look out!"

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw an energy ball headed straight for him and as she shoved him aside, held out her hands as if to block the energy. Suddenly she felt her nerves, her blood, her bones all catch on fire. The heat exploded out of her hands, decimating the energy balls on contact and making a wall of flame around herself and the guys.

"Wow. That's pretty cool," Lyn said, blinking.

"Who the hell are you?" a voice snarled as an olive-skinned woman in black leather stepped forward. It was impossible to misunderstand that the energy balls were originating from her. There was something strange about it, though; now that Wyatt looked, he could see that they weren't made of demonic energy at all.

"You're a witch," he said disbelievingly.

"You are truly a genius," the woman said in a voice dripping with both sarcasm and venom. "But I wasn't talking to you. Who's the spare with the firepower?"

Upstairs, the Halliwell women had heard the commotion and went down except for Phoebe, who had stayed with the sleeping Reneey.

"What's going on?" Paige asked as a distraction while Piper entered the room from the other side and used her own power on the newcomer, who somehow managed to deflect it.

"… Okay," Piper said slowly.

"Who's the one who threw the fireballs?" the woman sneered, her eyes set on Lyn. "Who are you?"

"Just the friendly neighborhood pyro," Lyn said with a sickly sweet smile. "You know, I never tried burning a whole person before…"

Wyatt shot her a look. "You've burned _part_ of a person before?"

Chris ignored them and growled at the woman, "Who are you? Are you with her?"

"I don't know who 'her' is, but I work alone… And I _always_ get my mark." A feral sort of smirk twisted her lip and with a snap of her fingers, a tiny spark of energy flared by Chris's right arm, leaving a burn on the back of his hand shaped like a phoenix. "So consider yourself marked."

Chris growled. "What the hell did you do to me?"

"Marked? Girl, you better state your business!" Piper growled as she got ready to aim and fire.

The woman laughed. "Save your energy, old woman; you already saw that won't work on me. Just consider yourself lucky I wasn't expecting the little firestarter or you wouldn't even have had the chance."

As quickly as she had appeared, she was gone, like a shadow melting away in the air. The silence that followed was punctuated only by the crackling sound of the flames Lyn had summoned from nowhere.


	5. Admission

Disclaimer: We do not own Charmed or any of the copyrighted stuff.

A/N: Lyn: Back by popular demand! Or at least that of a few fans out there, anyway.

Reneey: And ours. XD

---

**Chapter Five – Admission**

"Little?" Lyn fumed. "Did a five-foot-four freaking wannabe assassin just call me little?"

"Lyn, cool it before you burn the house down!" Chris hissed.

Paige rolled her eyes. "Know how many times we've had to repair this house because of your mother's outbursts?"

Wyatt seemed to ignore this conversation, smirking at Lyn. "I knew you weren't as bad as you were acting. Your power only works when you're angry! It made you angry that she tried to kill Chris! You don't _want_ us to die!"

The fire, which had been near the point of disappearing, flared up again. "Why don't we test that theory?"

Wyatt chuckled nervously. "Uhh… Nope, I'm fine." He stepped back slowly.

"Alright, girl, calm down," Piper said reprovingly but she was interrupted before she could get into full-on lecture mode by Phoebe running down the stairs.

"Reneey's gone!"

"_What_?!" Lyn demanded, the flames rising until they licked the ceiling. "_Who_?!"

"I don't know! I just stepped out to go to the bathroom and when I came back, she was already half gone with a puff of black smoke!"

"Lyn, calm down!" Paige hissed. "I _will_ cool you down; the last thing we need is this house to be burned to the ground."

Lyn's fists clenched but she forced her anger down into a black pool of nonemotion that quenched the flames outside and within. She couldn't let her anger rule her if she wanted to figure this out. She needed to be unemotional, logical, calculating. And to do that… She would have to tell the truth.

"Bianca," Lyn hissed like the name was a curse.

"Who's that?" Wyatt asked, eyes narrowing. "Wait, you know who kidnapped her?"

"So do you; you just don't know her name," Lyn said matter-of-factly. "She's the one who just attacked _you_." She pointed at Chris and shook her head. "Though I have no idea why she would assume kidnapping Reneey would have any effect on you. Guess she didn't realize you want her dead anyway."

"Wait… Why would they want her?" Phoebe asked.

"I guess word got out," Paige said with a sigh. "We'll get her back, Lyn, okay?"

"No," Lyn said, shaking her head. "Bianca's a phoenix. An assassin. She's after _him_; she just wants leverage."

Wyatt looked suspicious. "How the hell do you know that?"

Lyn sighed. "Because. I'm from a parallel dimension."

"… Excuse me?" Chris asked in the silence that followed. "What do you mean?"

"I mean Reneey and I come from a time… place… whatever where y'all are part of a TV show called Charmed."

"… Riight… Have you been smoking the smoke?" Wyatt asked with raised eyebrows.

"… Okay, firstly, that doesn't even make sense. Second, no, I'm not high on anything."

She switched her gaze to Piper and Phoebe. "If I was just high, how would I know that your grandmother sealed your powers until she died? That she was planning to strip them completely when she fell down the stairs because she thought you couldn't work together enough to handle them? That you had an older sister named Prue who was killed by Shax, the Source of All Evil's assassin?"

Piper gripped the stairway railing as she remembered the death of her older sister. Taking in a shaky breath, she closed and opened her eyes. "Alright… I believe you. We need a plan to get her back… The Elders can't know that she's been kidnapped."

"But Mo—"

"Chris!" Piper snapped, eyes blazing. Chris growled and looked away but fell silent.

"Well, since Lyn knows most of what's going on, Piper could train her… and we can think of a plan," Paige pitched in, trying to lighten up the mood.

"Not really, no," Lyn said, shaking her head. "The series ended right after Christy died. I got the basic concept because there was a story arc where Chris came back in time to keep Wyatt from turning evil and Bianca was sent back to either take him back to the future or kill him and yeah… No clue who hired her to kill him this time. Unless Wyatt is secretly evil again, anyway."

Paige put a hand on Lyn's shoulder. "Don't worry… We'll get her back."

"If she is some kind of assassin," Wyatt pointed out, "she's gonna try to come back after Chris, right?"

"You can't kill her," Lyn said quickly. "Without her, we can't find Reneey – or figure out who wants you dead, so don't even think about it," she added with a glare at Chris. "You kill her and whoever hired her will just send someone else to kill you."

---

"So who is she, why is she important, and most pertinently… Why should I watch her?" Bianca hissed at her father.

"Just trust me on this, my dear. And you have to watch her because I said so! Now, end of discussion."

Reneey blinked as she woke up in an unfamiliar room… or more like, dungeon. Her arms were chained to the wall and the chamber door stood open. There, framed in it, stood Bianca with a glare.

"I'm going to unlock you and you will follow me… If you do anything funny, I'll blast your limbs off."

Reneey, still with a fever and head injury, could only slowly nod her head. Bianca scoffed.

"Can't talk? Oh well. As long as you can still walk, I don't care."

Reneey swallowed hard. She wasn't sure what had happened but whatever it was, she had no doubt that it was in no way good.


	6. Empathetic Sarcasm

Disclaimer: We do not own Charmed or any of the copyrighted stuff.

A/N:

---

**Chapter Six – Empathetic Sarcasm**

Piper sighed as she made coffee. "So what exactly do these Phoenixes do other than being assassins?" Piper asked, turning to Lyn. "And do you know why they want to kill my child?"

"Presumably because he ticked someone off," Lyn said, shrugging. "Although not a very smart someone, I'd wager, because anyone with any intelligence would have hired a Darklighter to kill him, not a witch." She raised an eyebrow at Chris. "So who have you annoyed lately who's a few fries short of a happy meal?"

Chris growled. "No one I can remember…"

Piper gave Lyn coffee. "After you drink that, we'll work on your training… You're going to need to know how to control that properly as soon as possible. Something tells me you're going to need it."

---

"You're making my head spin," Reneey grumbled as she was dragged quickly and roughly by Bianca. "Stop! You're making me dizzy!"

"Shut up!" Bianca snapped. "You're a hostage, you idiot; I don't care!"

Electric sparks went around Reneey and shocked Bianca but because the girl already had a head injury and fever, it was weak. However, that didn't stop Bianca from hissing and letting go temporarily.

"I have a head injury… and a fever… so unless you want me to throw up on you… _slow down_."

Bianca growled but gave in. "This is why I hate taking people alive… They never stop complaining."

Reneey sighed and calmed down. "Why did you even kidnap me? It would only start a riot with Lynni, not Chris… Hell, I bet he's frickin' happy I'm gone."

Bianca's eyes narrowed. "How would you know who my target is?"

Reneey stopped dead. Crap! Bianca didn't know about the whole Charmed as a TV show thing. "I'm psychic…?"

"Liar," Bianca said simply. "I'm a phoenix; we can sense witches' powers upon physical contact. Yours are telekinesis and weather manipulation, nothing more."

"… I can just tell?" Reneey asked with a grin.

"Hm," Bianca said dryly. "One of the Charmed sisters has premonitions; I'm not stupid, girl."

"So I just know." Reneey shrugged. "Now can I have some water?"

Bianca sighed. "You never stop complaining, do you?"

"Well, I could electrify you," Reneey said sweetly.

"And I could reach into your chest and strip your powers," Bianca replied in a voice dripping with venom.

Reneey shuddered and whimpered. "… Can I have water?"

At that instant in Halliwell Manor, fire sprang to life, surrounding Lyn and the table she was sitting by.

"Whoa!" Piper exclaimed as she and Chris stepped back.

Lyn growled. "She's awake… and she's scared."

Chris snorted but decided to be smart for once and not say anything.

"How do you know?" Piper asked with raised eyebrows. "Are you an empath?"

"If she is, it's a different kind of empathy than mine," Phoebe said slowly. "Mine only works on people close by."

Lyn shrugged. "The heck if I know. I just always know what people are feeling. Sometimes what they're thinking, too. I always figured I just read people really well."

"Hm… your powers… they must be tied with your emotions… or the emotions you sense… or both." Paige shook her head. "Could you maybe reach out and contact Reneey?"

"I don't think it works both ways," Lyn said slowly, biting her lip and frowning deeply. "Or it never has. I've always felt what other people feel, for as long as I can remember. They're… stronger, I guess – a lot harder to control than my own emotions. Anger and depression are the worst; they almost take over. When someone else is feeling really strong emotion, it's hard to even focus on what I feel anymore. And Reneey's really afraid."

Chris rolled his eyes. "She has the potential to destroy the world – how the hell is she scared?"

Lyn snarled and shoved him back against the wall. "She's afraid because she's an 18-year-old kid nobody ever cared about so she barely has enough self-esteem to deal with people telling her they don't like her outfit, much less people trying to kill her."

Lyn's nails pressed into Chris's throat, her eyes narrowing. "You know, I sense you, too. I really have no idea why you hate her so much, but drawing on that hatred would make it really, incredibly easy to rip your throat out."

"Lyn!" Piper growled. Even though she knew Chris probably deserved it, he was her child. "I will freeze you until you learn how to cool it!"

Chris smirked and Piper switched her glare to him. "And you, mister – if I hear one more insult about Reneey, I will personally beat your ass in front of everybody!"

"Your freezing doesn't work on other witches; don't try to bluff me," Lyn snapped but she released her hold, shaking her hair back and clenching and unclenching her fists before shooting a glare at Chris. "And he's the one who needs to cool it. Eighty percent of the anger I'm feeling right now is coming from him; that's hardly my fault."

Phoebe frowned. "Your empathy must be a lot more broad-based than mine. I can only feel people who are standing close to me and they haven't overpowered my own emotions since I first got the power."

"Yippee for you," Lyn muttered darkly, closing her eyes and pressing her back against the wall in an effort to restrain herself. She was still searching for that cold pool of nonemotion; it was difficult to find when she was surrounded by powerful emotion. "If I didn't know how to repress things, I'd have been in jail or a psych ward by the time I was ten."

---

Reneey sighed as she finally got her water and drank it as she sat down on the bed in the tiny, dark room Bianca had dragged her to.

"So… you're here to watch me?" Her fear had slowly abated just a little but she was still wary. Reneey knew what Bianca was capable of.

"That would be the general idea," Bianca said dryly. She was leaning against the wall, her arms crossed, looking impatient. This was taking way too long.

"So why exactly do you hate me? I didn't do anything to you…"

Bianca scoffed. "I don't hate you, girl. I just don't like keeping hostages. It's tedious and time-consuming and I have a mark to take out."

"Well, you could be nicer if you don't hate me."

Bianca sighed. "Look, kid, you obviously don't get this so I'm just going to go ahead and tell you so you don't go holding out any false hope. You're not getting let go, okay? Phoenixes don't leave behind people who can ID us."

All the fear that Reneey had let go of suddenly came rushing back. "You mean… I'm going to… d-die?"

"Look… I'm not trying to be harsh here, okay?" Bianca said in her best attempt at a gentle tone. "But you need to know that you're not getting out of this. And neither are the Halliwells or your pyromaniac friend."

"That's not true… You can't just kill us for no reason!" Reneey cried, her fear giving way to anger. "You or they don't have the fucking right!"

The sky turned black and lightning split the clouds. Bianca growled. "I _will_ strip those powers…"

---

"Lyn," Phoebe said gently, putting a hand on Lyn's shoulder. Suddenly she froze as her eyes widened, no longer seeing the scene that was before her. A second later, she came back to reality, and everyone was already tensed and waiting.

"I know where Reneey is!"

"You saw it?" Chris asked.

"No… not at all… she's just making it up as she goes along," Lyn said sarcastically.


End file.
